Old Ewellian Email Bulletin Content

The next OE drinks will be at The Spring Tavern in Ewell Village from 7.30pm on Thursday 5th September 2019. OEs and partners/friends welcome, no need to rsvp but if you can that would help give us an idea on numbers. Please email oldewellians@ewellcastle.co.uk prior to the event.

OE Association is looking for some young committee members

The drinks will be preceedd by the OE Association Committee meeting. We're looking for additional committee members especially from OEs who were at Ewell Castle School in the 1990's and 2000's. If OEs would like to join the committee and help decide and organise our OE events please contact oldewellians@ewellcastle.co.uk

The Castle Summer Reunion

Thank you to everyone who attended the Summer Reunion on Saturday 8th June. The weather was kind to us and some OEs managed to get in a game of croquet, boules and table jenga whilst enjoying some refreshments and catching up with old school friends.

OE vs School 1st Team Cricket Match

Thanks to Toby, Nishan, Eshen, George, Will, Phil, Simon, Tom, Ryan and Rod who played in the OE team. The match took place during a hot afternoon and both teams played well. Eventually the OE team won 175 for 5 vs 163 for 9 for the current 1st Team.

Tell Us What You Think - OE SurveyThe OE Association exists to support all our alumni, like Dawood who is currently at E&Y (formerly Ernst & Young). Please click on the link to complete the Survey Monkey survey. Tell us what OE events and activities you would support/attend and what else you would like us to do to support you, whether you are at university, working or retired. www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/OEJuly19Survey

Federer: Grand Slam win 21?

British summertime is in full swing with the Cricket World Cup, Royal Ascot and the Glastonbury Music Festival quickly followed by two weeks of sporting prowess on the grass courts at SW19 for the Wimbledon tennis Championships.

Roger Federer already holds the record for the most male Grand Slam singles titles and he is seeking a 21st Major at SW19. Federer comes into the tournament having the ATP event at Halle for the 10th time and he is the general second favourite with bookmakers to lift the crown at Wimbledon, which begins on July 1 and runs until July 14.

Novak Djokovic currently has 15 Grand Slam titles to his name and is the tournament favourite despite a disappointing semi-final loss to Dominic Thiem at Roland Garros, ending the Serb’s hopes of completing the Nole Slam for the second time in his career (holding Wimbledon, US Open, Australian and Roland Garros in that order). He comes into the competition having just played the Boodles exhibition event, but the defending champion is the 6/4 favourite.

Much to his own chagrin, Rafael Nadal, ranked no.2 in the world, has been seeded no.3 for Wimbledon, due to the seeding for the gentlemen’s singles title taking into account recent performances on grass. Nadal captured his 12th Roland Garros title in May and hopes are high for another bold showing at SW19 following a narrow semi-final defeat at Wimbledon last year to Djokovic.

Elsewhere in the men’s tournament, last year’s beaten finalist Kevin Anderson could be set for a deep run in the tournament having been seeded 4th, whilst young starlets Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece and Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime are tipped to go well at bigger prices having performed with credit at Queen’s.

Maric Cilic and Milos Raonic are both former finalists at the grass court event, but both have form and injury question marks to overcome.

Mercurial talent Nick Kyrgios could bring his big game to SW19, but names at bigger prices who are of more interest are Italian Matteo Berretini, who won at Stuttgart earlier this summer and perhaps 2018 semi-finalist John Isner, who comes into the tournament fresh having not played since Miami in March.

British interest comes in the shape primarily of British No.1 Kyle Edmund, who reached the third round last year, before being beaten by Novak Djokovic. Birmingham’s Dan Evans arguably has a greater case of being the British man to go furthest in the competition following two grass-court victories already this season, which saw him lift the trophy at Surbiton and Nottingham. However, Brit performers look set to play a bit-part this time around.

On the women’s side, Australian Ash Barty is the bookies favourite at 4/1 and comes into the third Grand Slam of the year following a maiden Grand Slam success at Roland Garros and a grass-court success at Birmingham. The former Big Bash cricketer and new world no.1 has a game tailor-made for grass and she is likely to reach the business end of the tournament.

Serena Williams is bidding to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, but her price of 6/1 is more to do with reputation than current form. She has struggled with injuries since the birth of her daughter Alexis Ohainan Jr and will need to reproduce some of her best tennis to have any chance of lifting the famous trophy this year.

German Angelique Kerber is the defending champion, but has endured a tumultuous campaign. Despite reaching the finals of Indian Wells and producing a deep run at Eastbourne this week, it’s very hard to trust her based on current form.

Others that are interesting include dual Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the talented Simona Halep, Japan’s Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova are others names to throw in the hat, but not just at Grand Slam level, every women’s tournament on the WTA tour looks wide-open at the moment and the fight to be crowned the ladies singles champion at SW19 in 2019 looks no different. Jo Konta should have reached the final of the French Open last month, throwing away a golden opportunity to fight for a first Grand Slam title. Despite being a previous semi-finalist at the All England Club, her idiosyncratic formlines make it hard to make a case for her lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish.

If you want one name to watch throughout the fortnight, Coco Gauff became the first American this century to qualify for the main draw with three spellbinding victories at the qualifying tournament at Roehampton last week. The talented youngster has a big game and views Serena and Venus Williams as her idols – make sure you take a note of her name and she is sure to be lighting up the Centre Court in the next few years.

Don’t forget that Sir Andy Murray, the dual men’s singles champion at the All England Club is set to participate in the men’s doubles (with Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert) and the mixed doubles at Wimbledon this year, which should be a great sight for spectators. Murray, who won his first tournament since returning from hip resurfacing surgery after the Australian Open, at the Queen’s Club earlier this summer has the weapons to go far in both competitions, particularly with Herbert, who won the men’s doubles title in 2016.

It should be another great tournament and the eyes of the world will be on Wimbledon for two weeks as ever. Catch all the action on the BBC – will it no. 24 for Serena and no.21 for Roger? Or will Novak, Ash and co look to spoil the party? It promises to be another brilliant tournament!

Danny Archer – July 2019

Roger Smith ECS 1948-1952

I just spent a week in Mexico, in Merida, the capital of Yucatan State. That is the bit of the country that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico. My wife and I flew from Pennsylvania to Texas and then across the Gulf to Merida.

We were charmed by the people. They are friendly, polite, and helpful. There was none of the fear of crime that mars so many holidays abroad. Merida (stress on the first syllable) is a great centre of the Mayan people. Today many, if not most, of the people there speak Mayan. For some, it is their first language. Looking at the stone carvings from the pre-Colombian period you can see that the modern Yucateca people -- their stature and faces -- have not changed at all. There are hundreds of Mayan pyramids across the state. We visited one at Uxmal (the x is pronounced as sh) that was built around 900 AD.

Merida has a beautiful main square or plaza, with other, smaller squares elsewhere. These are centres of entertainment, such as dancing, music, and pok ta pok or Mayan football. There’s something happening every night. There appeared to be few tourists so the audience was the town people. The weather was hot (about 90 F) and sunny although it rained every afternoon. By now, the temperatures will be around 100 F at noon.

The people appeared to be happy despite what we might call a relatively low standard of living. They live in small flats around the city and spent most of their time, when not working, in the streets. On the Saturday that we were there the town was a madhouse, the streets flooded with people. The indoor markets were packed with people buying everything from food to shoes. I bought a pair of sandals hand-made by one of the stallholders. They cost about 12 pounds.

In Merida, the people talk to each other in person and are not obsessed by smart phones. We saw very few of them and then only used by teenagers. We met an Englishman living there. He was from Pinner near London and had lived in Merida for 12 years. Incredibly, he had never learned Spanish! We found that although some people, like waiters and hotel desk staff, could speak some English most people could not.

The architecture of Merida is interesting. The city is divided into small square blocks so that many of the buildings have an interior garden, with fountains. Some buildings were decayed but others are being restored. We saw little or no litter.

All in all, Merida is well worth a visit -- if you can take the heat!

Roger Smith 24th June 2019

July Photo of the MonthWith Sports Day just having taken place last week, it seems appropriate to have this image as our Archive Image for July. Click here to access the archive page on the website and email oldewellians@ewellcastle.co.uk for a username and password to allow you to view the photos, videos and Ewellian magazines. This year's winners were Castlemaine 1st on 1361 points, Raleigh 2nd on 1298 points and Essex 3rd on 1251 points.

Basement Renovation Update

Many Old Ewelians remember the less than salubrious Castle basement changing rooms, which frogs occasionally found their way into! Renovation work has been underway this year and by Sseptember there will be brand new changing areas, individual showers and toilets in the basement. A glass canopy now covers the widend brand new stairs providing access to the changing rooms from the path next to the croquet lawn.

Railway Trip Saturday 20th July

If you like steam trains, we have a treat for you. Old Ewellian Association Committee member Tony Rochfort and his wife Tracy are organising a day trip on the heritage line Bluebell Railway on Saturday 20th July. The muster or meeting point will be just outside the entrance to the Southern (Network Rail) main East Grinstead Train Station. This is the line which runs from, London Victoria to East Grinstead and is operated by ‘Southern’ - all the trains terminate at East Grinstead.

Once participants have gathered we will remain as a group & walk down to The Bluebell Railway station about 250 yards away. There we will all purchase our return tickets from East Grinstead to Sheffield Park, and the intention is to get the 11.45am train from East Grinstead. Consequently, I suggest anyone who’s interested in joining us meet outside the main East Grinstead Southern Train station by 11.00am. This allows time to get a tea or coffee from the buffet and take it on the train.

The train arrives at Sheffield Park station 12.35pm (journey time 50 minutes). There’s an excellent station buffet and restaurant at Sheffield Park - so I suggest we have lunch there on arrival.

There is a museum and a shop as well as other things to see around the station, before we get our train back to East Grinstead at 16.00pm arrive back at East Grinstead station approxmiately 16.40pm.

Finally the cost of a return ticket is £19.00. This is classed an “All Day Rover Ticket” - and gives unlimited travel on the day.

Tony's mobile number is 07764962796. If anyoneis interested and wants more information, they are welcome to ring him. On the day heI can be contacted on that number at any time. Tony and Tracy will be driving to East Grinstead and usingthe main Southern station car park.

Update Us and Share News

If you have moved, changed jobs or email recently, or have some good news you would like to share with the alumni community, get in touch. We'll include your news in future e bulletins and we'll update your details on the alumni database. If you'd like to pop in to visit like Mike Tucker did from Australia, please make an appointment in advance with Carol via oldewellians@ewellcastle.co.uk

Please Support OE Bursary

This autumn we will be launching a new OE Sixth Form Bursary to offer financial support to current families who otherwise would find it financially impossible for their children to continue into our Sixth Form. 'I am proud to be an Old Ewellian and I am grateful for the life-long friendships and happy memories I still have from my school days at Ewell Castle. That's why I'm supporting the Old Ewellian's Sixth Form Bursary Fund and I hope you will too'. Michael Brunwin ECS 1947-1953